Means for expanding a spring feeding finger



June 13, 1939. BALAS 2,162,050

MEANS FOR EXPANDING A SPRING'FEEDING FINGER Filed April 11, 1938 mun INVENTOR.

Balas.

Patented June 13, 1939 PATENT OFFICE MEANS FOR EXPANDING A SPRING FEED- ING FINGER George Balas, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to The Benco Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Ohio Application April 11, 1938, Serial No. 201,326

6 Claims.

My invention relates in general to means and methods for expanding the segmental feeding finger portions of a feeding finger, and more particularly to screw means and methods for expanding the segmental feeding finger portions of a feeding finger.

In automatic machines, and particularly in automatic screw machines, the bar of stock which is to be machined is fed to the machine by means of a spring feeding finger, which comprises general- 1y a hollow body member having longitudinal slits extending from one end thereof to a portion intermediate its ends and forming expansible segmental feeding finger portions arranged to receive a set of pads which directly engagethe bar of stock for feeding it to the automatic machine. Inasmuch as the .bars of stock may vary in size and shape for different screw machine jobs, a set of pads is provided to accommodate the various kinds of bars of stock. When it becomes necessary to change from one bar of stock to another bar of stock of a different size and dimension, a new set of pads is inserted into the feeding finger. Heretofore, manufacturers of feeding fingers paid little attention to the means and methods of exchanging the pads but left it up to the user to find the best way that they could to remove and replace the set of pads. As a result, a considerable amount of difficulty has been experienced by the user in exchanging the set of pads in the spring feeding finger. The usual method employed in exchanging the sets of pads in the spring feeding finger, was to use one or more screw drivers, or other wedge-like tools, and drive them into the slits between the segmental feeding finger portions of the feeding finger, while at the same time removing one set of pads and replacing it by another set of pads. In doing this, the screw drivers, or other wedge-like tools, would frequently become dis-engaged and disrupt the easy facility of removing and inserting a set of pads.

Therefore an object of my invention is to provide means and methods for forcibly expanding 0 the segmental feeding finger portions of a spring feeding finger to facilitate the removing and inserting of a set of pads.

Another object of my invention is to provide means and methods for forcibly expanding the segmental feeding finger portions of a spring feeding finger by means of ascrew member having a threaded portion which threadably engages one of the segmental feeding finger portions and having an extension portion which extends across the inside of the hollow feeding finger and engages a segmental feeding finger portion on the opposite side thereof.

Another object of my invention is to'cause the extension engaging end of the screw member to engage the sides of a slit between two segmental 5 feeding finger portions and expand same.

Another object of my invention is the provision of employing a plurality of screw members for forcibly expanding the segmental feeding finger portions to facilitate the removal and insertion of a set of pads.

Another object of my invention is the method of expanding the expansible segmental feeding finger portions of a spring feeding finger by threadably engaging one of said segmental feeding finger portions with a threadable member having an extension portion which extends across the inside of the feeding finger and-engages a segmental feeding finger on the opposite side thereof, and by turning the threadable member inwardly to expand the engaged segmental feeding finger portions.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of my invention may be had by referring to the following description and olaims,ta-ken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which like parts are designated by like reference charactors, and in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a perspective side view of a spring feeding finger to which my invention may be applied;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary and cross-sectional View, taken along the lines 2-2 of Figure 1, with the segmental feeding finger portions expanded and with the set of pads removed;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary and cross-sectional view similar to Figure 2, but with the set of pads positioned in the feeding finger;

Figure 4 is a front view of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 with the segmental feeding finger portions expanded;

Figure 6 is a front view showing a modified arrangement of the location of the threaded member employed to expand the segmental feeding finger portions;

Figure 7 is a further modified arrangement employing a plurality of threaded members for expanding the segmental feeding finger portions;

Figure 8 is a further modified arrangement of 50 the application of my invention, shown in connection with a feeding finger having two segmental feeding finger portions; and

Figure 9 is a further modified arrangement of the application of myinvention, shown in connection with a feeding finger having four segmental feeding finger portions.

With reference to Figure 1 of the drawing, a spring feeding finger of the general type used to feed a bar of stock into an automatic machine, is illustrated by the reference character l0, and comprises generally a hollow body member through which the bar of stock passes. The hollow body member comprises, as illustrated, three segmental feeding finger portions I I, I2, and I3 formed by longitudinal slits I4, I 5 and I6 extending from the forward end thereof to a portion intermediate its ends. The forward end of the segmental spring feeding finger portions ll, l2 and I3 are resilient and are arranged to be expanded substantially radially outwardly to receive a set of pads identified by the reference characters 20, 2| and 22. The set of pads is held longitudinally in place between internal shoulders 28 and 29, see Figure 3, and is held circumferentially in place, for example, by means of a pin member 24 that extends inwardly of the segmental feeding finger portion H and engages a complementary recess provided in the pad 20. As indicated in Figure 3, the pads at their rearward end have sloping walls so that a bar of stock may be easily inserted therein by spreading the pads.

As explained hereinbefore, a great deal of difficulty is experienced in exchanging one set of pads for another to accommodate bars of stock of different sizes and shapes. In accordance with the principle of my invention, I employ a thread- "ed member 25 for expanding the segmental feeding finger portions to facilitate the removal and the insertion of a set of pads. The portion of the threaded member nearer its head is threaded as indicated by the reference character 2'! and is arranged to threadably engage a threaded opening 23 provided in the segmental feeding finger portion ll. As illustrated, the threaded member 25 is provided with an extension which extends across inside of the hollow spring finger and its forward pointed end 26 engages the sides of the slit 15, so that when the threaded member 25 is turned inwardly, the three segmental feeding finger portions H, l2 and I3 are expanded, as shown in Figures 2 and 5. When the segmental feeding finger portions are expanded, the sets of pads may be easily inserted or removed to accommodate bars of stock of different sizes and shapes. The length of the threaded member 25 is such that the head thereof limits the turning of the threaded member inwardly to limit the extent that th segmental feeding finger portions may be. expanded.

In the arrangement shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, these segmental feeding finger portions may be expanded sufiiciently to insert or remove the set of pads as a unit, or if the machinist so desires, he may insert or remove each of the pads separately. After the pads have been positioned in their proper place the threaded member 25 is unscrewed and the spring finger appears as that shown in Figure l. The threaded member 25 is kept in a safe place until it is needed for further use. The threads 21 extend only for a short .portion, so that the turning may be minimized when inserting or withdrawing the threaded member.

s In Figure 6, I show a modified arrangement of the position of the threaded member 25, and in this position, the threads 21 of the threadable member 25 engage an off-set threaded opening 32 in the segmental feeding finger portion H and the pointed end 26 no longer engages the sides of a slit but is arranged to engage the inside surface of the segmental feeding finger portion 52. In this arrangement only two of the segmental feeding finger portions are expanded, in which case each of the pads is inserted or Withdrawn individually, as shown in Figure 6, and then rotated circumferentially until all of them have been inserted or withdrawn, as indicated by the dash and dot lines.

In Figure '7, I show another modified arrangement in that I employ two threadable members 25 instead of one. The two threadable members 25 are spaced apart longitudinally of the feeding finger and threadably engage the two off-set threaded openings 33 and 34 of the segmental feeding finger portion H. In this arrangement, the pointed ends 25 of the threadable members 25 engage respectively the segmental feeding finger portions 12 and iii, in which case all of the three segmental feeding finger portions are expanded to permit the three pads to be inserted or withdrawn as a unit, or as individual pieces,

7 as the machinist may elect.

In some cases, the spring feeding finger, instead of being divided in three segmental portions, is divided in two or four portions, as shown in Figures 8 and 9. In Figure 8, the threadable member 25 threadably engaged a threaded opening 39 in the segmental feeding finger portion 38 and extends across the inside of the hollow body member and the pointed end 26 engages a segmental feeding finger portion 37. In Figure 9, the threadable member 25 threadably engages a segmental feeding finger portion 4! and extends across the inside of the hollow body member and the pointed end 26 engages a segmental feeding finger portion 43 to expand the same. The segmental feeding finger portions 42 and 44 are unexpanded, and each of the pads may be inserted or withdrawn individually and rotated. around until all of the pads have been inserted or withdrawn.

Although I have described my invention with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has. been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

I claim as my invention:

1.. The combination with a spring feeding finger comprising a hollow body member having longitudinal slits extending from one end thereof to a portion intermediate its ends and forming expansible segmental feeding finger portions arranged to be forcibly expanded substantially radially outwardly, of screw means for forcibly ex panding the segmental feeding finger portions, said screw means having a threaded portion threadably engaging one of said segmental feeding finger portions and having an extension por-- tion extending across the inside of the hollow body member and engaging the sides of a slit between two segmental feeding finger portions.

2. The combination with a spring feeding finger comprising a hollow body member having longitudinal slits extending from one end thereof to a portion intermediate its ends and forming expansible segmental feeding finger portions arranged to be forcibly expanded substantially radially outwardly, of screw means for forcibly expanding the segmental feeding finger portions, said screw means having a threaded portion threadably engaging one of said segmental feeding finger portions and having an extension portion extending across the inside of the hollow body member and engaging the sides of a slit between two segmental feeding finger portions, said screw means having stop means for limiting the amount that the screw means may be turned inwardly to limit the extent that the segmental feeding finger portions may be expanded.

3. The combination with a spring feeding finger comprising a hollow body member having at one end thereof expansible segmental feeding finger portions arranged to be forcibly expanded substantially radially outwardly, of screw means for forcibly expanding the segmental feeding finger portions, said screw means having a threaded portion threadably engaging one of said segmental feeding finger portions and having an extension portion extending across the inside of the hollow body member and engaging another segmental feeding finger portion.

4. The combination with aspring feeding finger comprising a hollow body member having at one end thereof expansible segmental feeding finger portions arranged to be forcibly expanded substantially radially outwardly, of screw means for forcibly expanding the segmental feeding finger portions, said screw means having a threaded portion threadably engaging one of said segmental feeding finger portions and having an extension portion extending across the inside of the hollow body member and engaging another segmental feeding finger portion, said screw means having stop means for limiting the amount that the screw means may be turned inwardly to limit the extent that the segmental feeding finger portions may be expanded.

5. The combination with a spring feeding finger comprising a hollow body member having at one end thereof expansible segmental feeding finger portions arranged to be forcibly expanded substantially radially outwardly, of a plurality of screw means for forcibly expanding the segmental feeding finger portions, said plurality of screw means being spaced from each other longitudinally of the hollow body member, each having a threaded portion threadably engaging one of said segmental feeding finger portions and having an extension portion extending across the inside of the hollow body member and engaging another segmental feeding finger portion.

6. The combination with a spring feeding finger comprising a hollow body member having at one end thereof three expansible segmental feeding finger portions arranged to be forcibly expanded substantially radially outwardly, of a plurality of screw means for forcibly expanding the segmental feeding finger portions, said plurality of screw means being spaced from each other longitudinally of the hollow body member and having a threaded portion threadably engaging one of said segmental feeding finger portions and having an extension portion extending across the inside of the hollowbody member and respectively engaging each of the other two segmental feeding finger portions.-

' GEORGE BALAS. 

